Fueling Strategy: Tonight “Partial Fill Only” due to Saturday AM wholesale prices will fall another 3 cents then Sunday another 3 cents – Be Safe Today!
NYMEX Crude $ 48.49 DN $.7900
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5036 DN $.0259
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6001 DN $.0242
NEWS
Oil prices suffered from a fifth straight session decline on Friday to tally a weekly loss of just over 9%, settling at their lowest level since late November.
Data Friday revealed that the number of active U.S. oil rigs rose for an eighth week in a row. That, combined with a recent report showing a hefty increase in domestic crude stockpiles and further gains in output, prompted prices to end near session lows. U.S. oil activity fed concerns that the global glut of supplies will remain despite coordinated production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
April West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 79 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $48.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices marking lowest finish since Nov. 29, FactSet data show. Prices lost 9.1% for the week—which was the largest such loss since the week ended Nov. 4.
May Brent crude shed 82 cents, or 1.6% to $51.37 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, with prices losing about 8.1% for the week.
The sharp selloff this week came after investors, who in recent weeks had posted a record number of bets that oil prices would move higher, were caught on the wrong foot by U.S. data showing a hefty increase in domestic crude stockpiles and further gains in output. The Energy Information Administration Wednesday reported an 8.2-million-barrel weekly increase in domestic crude supplies to a record level of 528.4 million barrels. Total crude output, meanwhile, rose to their highest level in more than a year.
On Friday, Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 8 to 617 rigs this week.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said this week that there would be “no free rides” for non-OPEC producers, implying that OPEC is unwilling to lose market share to other producers as it works to rebalance the market. “This suggests that even Riyadh… [is] beginning to lose patience with a drive that so far has failed to deliver its aims of an oil price above $60 a barrel,” said Enrico Chiorando, a U.K.-based analyst at energy consultancy Love Energy. “With uncertainty remaining over whether OPEC members would be willing to extend cuts, this week’s slide is likely to severely undermine their enthusiasm.”
Back on Nymex, April gasoline fell 2.4 cents, or 1.5%, to $1.600 a gallon, for a weekly loss of 3.2%, while April heating oil shed 2.6 cents, or 1.7%, to $1.504 a gallon, ending down roughly 5.7% for the week.